Propulsion-wheel.



No. 796,836. v PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905.

' A. 0. FLETCHER.

' PROPULSION WHEEL.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 11, 1905.

1270". 9 f Y n s 4 I I Elf jwwiziaz" da'iora fiilefi lei.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIOE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1905.

Application filed May 11, 1905. Serial No. 259,989.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADDISON O. FLETCHER, acitizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented new and useful Improvements in Propulsion-Wheels, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to propulsion-wheels.

A wheel involving my invention may be put to several advantageous uses,one of which and as represented in the drawings accompanying and forminga part of this specification is for propelling or driving a ship orboat. In the said drawings I have illustrated two simple forms ofembodiment of the invention, and I will set forth the same in detail inthe following description in order to enable those skilled in the art topractice the invention, while the novelty of the latter will be includedin'the claims succeeding said description.

In connection with each bucket or blade of the wheel I provide means forchecking the flow of the water in opposite directions radially of thewheel when said bucket or blade is in its working relation, so that thecomplete depth of the active face of said blade can take hold of thewater, the result being that I get the greatest amount of propellingefliciency from the blades. The means cooperative with the blades are ofsuch a character that I do not impede the progress of the blades throughthe water, forl provide for the flow of water in reduced streams aroundthe blades. In the present instance I arrange each blade between twodevices, the latter serving tocheck the radial flow of the water eitherinwardly or outwardly, but being spaced from the blade between them topermit the water to pass in reduced streams through the spaces, so asnot to retard the travel of the blade.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a propulsion-wheelincluding my invention, parts being broken away and in section to moreclearly indicate the improved structure. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectionalside elevation of a portion of said wheel. Fig. 3 is a sectionalelevation of the parts shown in -Fig. 2, the section being taken throughthe rings. Fig. 4 is a view corresponding-to Fig. 2 of aslightly-modified construction.

Like characters refer to like parts throughout the diflferent figures ofthe drawings.

On a shaft are rigidly fastened in some suitable way hubs, as 2,separated a distance apart corresponding substantially to the width ofthe wheel. One of these hubs is illustrated in Fig. 2. From it and thecompanion hub arms or spokes, as 3, radiate. The arms may be of anysuitable number. They are fastened to rings, as 4, in some convenientway, the arms or spokes in the present case being upon the outside ofsaid rings.

Rigidly mounted between the two rings 4, as shown most clearly in Fig.3, are buckets or blades, as 5. These buckets or blades may be held inplace in any desirable wayfor eX- ample, by means of angle brackets orplates, as 6, bolted or otherwise suitably secured to the buckets andrings, respectively. The hubs, arms, rings, and buckets may be made ofany desirable material. For example, they .may be of wood or metal or ofcomposite construction, as deemed most desirable.

Each bucket or blade 5 has its side faces angular to present awedge-like structure or one that tapers from its inner toward its outeredge. The inclined faces, as will therefore be evident, are angular withrespect to the radii of the wheel, so that when they enter the waterthey prevent any water from being thrown toward the center of the wheel.

On the outer side of each blade or bucket I arrange a plate, as 7 thebuckets being respectively set edgewise to the plates. These plates 7are fitted between and secured to the rings, for example, by means ofangle-plates, as 8, bolted to the plates and rings, respectively. Uponreference to Fig. 2 it will be seen that each plate slopes oppositely,outward from its apex, which is intersected by a radial line of thebucket, to its opposite ends. This inclination may be secured by archingor curving the inner surface of the plates outwardly-that is, the innersurface is convex. The side edges of the plates 7 are beveled in orderthat they can enter the water with the least possible resistance, and astheir inner surfaces are curved they do not prevent the free How of thewater between the plates and the outer edges of the respective blades,said blades and plates being spaced apart or separated, as will beclearly seen upon an inspection of Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

Between each bucket or blade 5 and ,the center of the wheel I arrange aplate, as 9, (see Figs. 1, 2, and 3,) or one, as 9. (See Fig.

4.) The main function attained by the two 2 veezee forms of plates 9 and9 is the same. The plate 9 has an intermediate outwardly arched orconcaved body portion and two wings along the sides of said bodyportion, which are downwardly deflected and which have their outer facescurved, such wings being denoted by 9. The outer surface of the plate 9is curved, so as to avoid the least possible resistance to the water. Itwill be evident, therefore, that each blade 5 is fitted between twoplates 7 and 9 and is set edgewise with respect to said plates. Theblades 5 have been described as being separated from the plates 7, whilethe same statement applies with respect to the blades and plates 9, sothat as a blade travels through the water reduced streams of water canflow through the spaces between the inner and outer edges of the bladeand plates 7 and 9, respectively, so as not to retard the desired motionof said blade. The plates 7 and 9 are of similar construction atopposite sides of the blade 5, so that the wheel and its adjuncts canwork as well when moving in one direction as in the other.

As a blade enters the water and travels in the direction of the arrow inFig. 1 the plates 7 and 9 cooperative therewith serve to check theupward and outward flow of the water immediately behind said blade ortrap it in a measure, so that the entire depth of said blade can takehold of the water thus checked, by reason of which I am enabled tosecure a working effect from the entire active face of the blade.

The mergence of the convex surface of the body of each plate 9 with theouter curved surfaces of the wings 9 present pockets to aid in checkingthe inward flow of the water back of the cooperating blade, while aftersaid blade passes the vertical the wing 9 to the left of it (assumingthat the blade follows the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1) will exerta propelling influence, for it can take hold of the water. Thecross-sectional area of the lower plates is less than that of the upperones, as they travel deeper into the water than said upper plates, andas the water is of greater density below its surface than at its surfaceI prevent by this variation in cross-sectional area of the two platesthe impedance of the lower plates through the water. During the timeeach blade 5 is doing its work and is taking a hold upon a considerablebody of water I provide for the relief of the trapped water around theupper and lower edges of the blade by the spaces between said edges andthe plates 7 and 9.

It will be remembered that the blades 5 and plates 7 and 9 are fittedbetween the rings 4 of the wheel. These rings are imperforate andperform an important oflice, for they check flow of the water behind theblades laterally of thewheel or longitudinally of the blades, so thatnot only do I get the checking effect of the plates 7 and 9 to limit theflow of the water either inward or outward radially of the wheel, but Ialso prevent flow of the water sidewise of the wheel while being actedupon by each blade.

The blade 5 and plate 7 in Fig. 4 are the same in construction as theparts bearing similar characters hereinbefore described. The plate 9,however, constituting a hood for said blade, is of slightly differentconstruction in that its outer surface is concaved instead of convex.When the water as the blade 5 travels on its working movement is thrownagainst this concaved face, a part thereof is deflected by such concavedface backwardly against the blade, so that a less amount of water willpass through the space between the blade and the plate and naturally aless propulsive speed will take place with a construction such as thatshown in Fig. 4. This particular construction is well adapted tocanal-boats. The concaved face of the body of the plate 9 is intersectedcentrally by a radial line of the wheel passing centrally through theblade 5, so that said plate will present symmetrically-curved surfacesat each side .of said blade, each of which will perform the deflectingoperation referred to, depending, of

course, upon the direction in which the wheel is turning. The body ofthe plate 9 has upwardly-d eflected wings or flanges, which alternatelyserve as propulsive mediums to aid the blade 5.

I adopted the title propulsion-wheel asa convenient one for my inventionand described in full the action of the wheel when used in connectionwith a boat or ship. The wheel can be adapted without change in itsconstruction to other uses.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. Apropulsion-wheel having a bucket, and devices between which the bucketis disposed edgewise, serving to check the opposite flow of the watersubstantially radially of the wheel, behind said bucket, said devicesbeing separated from the bucket to permit streams of water in a limitedvolume to pass between the bucket and said devices.

2. A propulsion-wheel havingabucket, and devices between which thebucket is disposed edgewise, serving to check the opposite flow of thewater substantially radially of the wheel, behind said bucket, saiddevices being separated from the bucket to permit streams of'water in alimited volume to pass between the bucket and said devices, one of thelatter having propelling means.

3. A propulsion-wheel havingabucket, and devices between which thebucket is disposed edgewise, serving to check the opposite flow of thewater substantially radially of the wheel, behind said bucket, saiddevices being separated from the bucket to permit streams of water in alimited volume to pass between the bucket and said devices, said buckethaV recess 3 ing its side faces angular to present a wedgelike structureof least width along its outer edge.

4:. A prop ulsion-wheel having abucket, and devices between Which thebucket is disposed edgewise, serving to check opposite flow of the watersubstantially radially of the wheel, behind the bucket, said devicesbeing separated from the bucket to permit streams of water in a limitedvolume to pass between the bucket and said devices, and means forpreventing flow of the water behind the bucket, laterally of the wheel.

5. A propulsion-wheel having two laterallyseparated rings, bucketsfitted between the rings, and plates at opposite sides of each bucket,the plates serving to check opposite flow of the water radially of abucket, behind said bucket, and the rings serving to prevent DGSSGS.

ADDISON O. FLETCHER. Witnesses:

HEATH SUTHERLAND, MARY S. HANDY.

